Help with upgrading light

[Doak6021]

Right now I have a life glo 24" 20W bulb in the standard 30" hood for a 29 gallon aquarium. I bought the bulb at petsmart before I really knew anything about aquariums. For about 2 months I have been unable to figure out why some of the plants have been dying quite fast. I then realized the bulb I bought was probably the problem. Anyone have any ideas on a bulb for the hood I currently have?

If not, anyone got a new fixture I could use?

[digital3]

What kind of plants were you trying to grow? Sometimes the mega pet chains sell plants that aren't really aquatic.... Even though a 20w bulb for a 30 gallon is a little low...

[Drip Loop]

You will want to average 1.5-2.5 watts per gallon if your ultimate goal is a highly planted tank. I am sure there are going to be people who tell you its less and theres truth to what they say. However, my personal opinion is to stay in that range and be sure the spectrum of the bulbs you purchase are somewhere in the 5-10k range.

Are you adding any kind of fert to the water or substrate?

[sktadood13]

You will want to average 1.5-2.5 watts per gallon if your ultimate goal is a highly planted tank. I am sure there are going to be people who tell you its less and theres truth to what they say. However, my personal opinion is to stay in that range and be sure the spectrum of the bulbs you purchase are somewhere in the 5-10k range.

Are you adding any kind of fert to the water or substrate?

when you say this that is toward plants......i have a 55g and 2 lights 15w....i have no live plants just fish and now im worried it my affect my fish.

[Drip Loop]

I can tell you this. If you are using the basic lights that came with your aquarium than 99% of the time you dont have enough light.

You could prolly grow some of the low light plants but wheres the fun in that? heh

[Doak6021]

I am using a 20W 10k 24" flouescent bulb. The hood is 30".
My tank is planted but not crowded with plants.

I just want know if there are any other 24" bulbs that I could use for this hood that would put out more wattage.

If not, are there any suggestions on some lighting fixtures I could use to upgrade my lighting to 1.5 to 2 wpg?

[Dave66]

Depends on your budget. JBJ Formosa DX fixtures use power compact bulbs and pump out a lot of light. Two foot fixture puts out 110 watts of light, the higher wattage 2-footer has 130 watts of light. The site: http://www.jbjlighting.com/sys_formosa_dx.html
I use Formosa DX's over all eight of my freshwater planteds.
Oh and you'd need to switch out the bulbs for 6700K bulbs. With that amount of light at 10K, all you'd grow would be algae.

Dave

[Doak6021]

What about these three different fixtures?
Would any of these work?

Coralife Freshwater Aqualight T5 30 Inch 36 Watt
http://www.aloha-aquariums.com/servl...ualight/Detail

Current USA Nova Extreme T5 X2 Freshwater Aquarium Lighting Fixture, 2X24 Watt, 30 inch
http://www.aquarium-supply.biz/Produ...U01138&click=2

30" Freshwater Aqualight w/1-65W 6700K Str
http://www.aquariumguys.com/aqualight5.html